Apple Sets Record; Apple 5S/5C Sales Far Outpace Figures From Last September When Apple Unveiled iPhone 5; 5S Initial Sales Almost Doubled Over Those Of The Original 5; We'll Be Seeing Stories All Week -- Mostly, Again, How The Pundits Got It Wrong

Apple sets record. CNBC is reporting:

Apple announced on Monday that sales for its new iPhone had set a record, with consumers snapping up nine million smartphones within the first few days of its launch, allowing the company to hike its revenue guidance.

The tech giant said in a statement that the iPhone 5s and 5c gangbuster sales were accompanied by more than 200 million downloads of the iOS 7 platform, Apple's new iteration of its operating software.

As a result, Apple said company revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter would be "near the high end" of its previous guidance of $34-$37 billion. Gross margins would also check in near the top of its prior guidance of 36-37 percent.

Unlike Windows operating systems upgrades which some consider very expensive, Apple generally provides their upgrades for free:

Please note, iOS 7 is available as a free upgrade for the following iOS devices:

• iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4
• iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2, iPad mini
• iPod touch 5G

Reuters is reporting:

Apple said it sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models in the first three days after their launch on Friday.

Shares of Apple rose 3.6 percent in premarket trade on Monday following the news.
Demand for the iPhone 5s has exceeded initial supplies, and many online orders are scheduled to be shipped in the coming weeks, the company said in a statement.

The sales far outpaced the figures from last September, when Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, selling more than 5 million in the first three days after its launch.

On Friday, long lines formed outside stores in Tokyo, New York, San Francisco and other cities for Apple's new top-of-the-line 5s and the less-expensive 5c. It was the first time Apple had launched two iPhone models simultaneously.

While sitting here in Starbucks this morning, the iPhone 5S was the main topic of conversation (I did not join in the conversation). One woman showed her new iPhone 5S -- I didn't see the color; it didn't look like the "gold" edition. There were many, many comments on how much better the camera was.

My biggest concern for the day: claims that TouchID has been hacked --  

A group of German hackers claimed to have cracked the iPhone fingerprint scanner on Sunday, just two days after Apple Inc launched the technology that it promises will better protect devices from criminals and snoopers seeking access.

If the claim is verified, it will be embarrassing for Apple which is betting on the scanner to set its smartphone apart from new models of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and others running the Android operating system of Google Inc.

So, let me see if I understand this correctly. Some German is going to start following me around to get my index fingerprint, and then is going to steal my smart phone just so he/she can view photos of my granddaughters, and listen to messages from my wife to remind me to pick up bread on the way home from work. LOL. 

By the way, this is not even hacking. All they are doing is "lifting" a fingerprint off a glass with Scotch tape, photocopying it, and laying it on the iPhone TouchID. I can't make this stuff up. Actually, all they have to do is steal my smart phone -- my index fingerprint will be all over it. The good news: folks can still use numeric keypad to lock it. Mountains and molehills.